I will now watch Virginia Tech basketball. I will now watch Virginia Tech basketball. I will no watch Virginia Tech basketball.

Holy crap what just happened?

First thought — it’s about sports

The Superbowl, sports-wise and ad-wise, was dull. This was a bit homophobic, this a bit racist, and this the funniest commercial of the night. Overall a pretty subpar batch of ads if you ask me.

Payton Manning managed not to choke (although I saw about fifteen whiny Payton Manning faces) and won his first championship at any level. Huzzah Payton. Now, we can finally move on and stop talking about you.

WotBN (still) lives!

Last Wednesday I launched West of the Boulevard News to much a little bit of ballyhoo. Over the course of six days the site has received 644 visits by 265 users. Not too bad for week number one. Most interesting things so far: A review of Flushed Away, a bit about the Smoke Free Air Act, and thoughts on Rex Grossman.

Obviously the site is growing/changing as we speak. If you’d like to help out in any way (especially advertising with us if you own a business in the area) please let us know. Achtung Residents! Send us your tips!

Judi Dench, aka. the love of my life

I in the midst of a serious Judi Dench love affair. I don’t really want to expound on this because it gets old and wrinkly rather fast.

WTF? Can anyone tell me what is happening here?

Technorati Tags: sports, Virginia, Virginia Tech, wtf

Dear Ohio State,

I’m sorry that the Florida Gators and Urban Myer made you look like a bunch of chumps. I am also sorry that “the best player in college football” went 4 of 14 for 35 yards and an interception. Maybe you should give your big heavy trophy to Adrien Peterson — since he should have won it as a freshman.

But I do want to thank you for making Boise State the sweetest national champion team ever. So thanks. CHOMP CHOMP!

Hugs!

Me and roundball generally aren’t the best of friends. But any time VT scores a win over a top 5 team in any sport I get excited. I think Duke:Basketball::Miami:football for the Hokies. As in WE WILL OWNz YOU 4 LIFE. Or not.

But seriously Hokie basketball!. Also check out this sweet image:

If you didn’t watch last nights Fiesta Bowl between Oklahoma and Boise State you missed the single best football game of all time. Go download it from iTunes this very second. Or you can just wait until Disney makes a movie about it called “The Little Broncos.”

If I were a Boise State fan I’d start talking co-national championship over here.

Seriously, best. game. ever.

The NCAA has tomahawk chopped those offensive feathers right off of the William and Mary logo. I for one am glad to see such blatant racism removed from college athletics. As the NCAA said the College should be responsible for opponents who may make racial slurs concerning the lineage and history of innocent feathers. Think of the Children™!

And in other completely unrelated news, Florida State University’s athletic budget is upwards of $40M while William and Mary’s is around $11M.

Technorati Tags: sports, wtf

Last night I learned two things:

1. Asphalt is hard
2. Ummm bikes are sweet? I mean whatever, maybe it was just that one thing.

While finishing up our sweet new North side loop I happened to run over something that flew up into the spokes of my front wheel. As you may know this causes the front wheel to instantly stop. If you know anything about physics you know that the body riding the bicycle doesn’t stop. At least not immediately. It does stop when it smashes into the asphalt though, which as previously mentioned is hard.

My bike seems to be ok which is awesome. My face and head have seen better days, but hey I’m XTREME. Or something. I did come pretty close to racking myself as I hurtled over my handle bars into the road, so that area is going to be pretty sore tomorrow. Bad news for my wife, am I right fellas!?!? AM I RIGHT!?

I wasn’t wearing a helmet. So wear your helmet folks. Or don’t. I mean whatever?

TRUAMA PICS HERE

Technorati Tags: wtf

It is hard for me to write about a Hokie loss. In fact it is hard for me to do anything after a Hokie lose — other than drink breers.. It isn’t a good scene in my house when things go bad for VPI, just ask my wife. But here are some thoughts:

• I’m super proud of our 2nd half effort. Really, I’m proud of our effort during all points of the game save the first ten minutes. It is not an easy thing to stay motivated down 21 points instantly, but I think we did a good job. I wonder if ultimately the quick 21 points is a coaching issue. Were the players not ready to play? It sure didn’t look like it.
• I LOVE YOU SEAN GLENNON ^_^. That kid had a great day (Glennon 27-53-339-1TD). Considering the fact that he was on his rear the entire game those stats look pretty good. He had a great never-say-die attitude too.
• Speaking of, the whole team really pounded it out there at the end. So much effort with so little chance to win. It was cool to watch.
• The 3rd quarter fumble by Glennon for a TD really killed us. During the game I blamed it on Ore who appears to totally miss the pass rush. But one guy I watched the game with pointed out that he moved over to pick up his man and just didn’t see the second rusher. I think that we were out schemed on that play (John Tenuta is awesome). But still, Ore was pulled late in the game and I’d say it was for blocking.
• Speaking of blocking late in the game: I am pretty sure at one time I saw two tight ends pulled to Glennon’s blind side to pick up the pass rush. Kind of funny-slash-sad.
• The second fumble in the 3rd was Sean Glennon’s fault. While Orion Martin missed the block, Glennon held the ball for way too long.
• Our receivers are still awesome. Forget the running game, chuck the ball down field.
• Sergio Render (sweet football name) had a costly penalty at one point. I can’t remember what it was, but stop that please.
• Boone. You are still a fatty (although he did look a little less fatty-esque this week). You hands must also be full of buttery fat. I realize you are young and will only get better, but please please please catch footballs that hit your hands in the red zone.

So there are some thoughts. A loss is never fun or good, but I think there were some positive takeaways from this game. Also this is a great time to have a break until BC next Thursday. w00t!

Technorati Tags: sports, Virginia, Virginia Tech

The game was televised on ESPNU which I don’t get at my house. Unfortunately this forces me to watch the game at BW3’s which is loud and the bartender wears a Notre Dame jersey just to piss me off. It also means I didn’t take notes like I normally do.

For what its worth:

• The Cincinnati Bearcats are a good team. After the way WVU played this weekend I think the Bearcats could beat them. Speaking of, UL could beat them too.
• This is also not VT related, but Rutgers is ranked #23.
• Aaron Rouse was flagged for another personal foul. This time he was benched immediately for a couple plays — a great move I think.
• Sean Glennon was 11/23, 188, 1TD, 1INT for the day. Glennon spread the ball around to six receivers including Big Ol’ Boone the TE and a great throw on the run to Ore. He seems to be getting comfortable with throwing to Josh Morgan. Unfortunate since Morgan is suspended for the Georgia Tech game this weekend. Hopefully Royal will step up — I believe he will.
• Our run defense looked like crap in the first half. Actually the pass protection was weak too, allowing three sacks. After that painful first half the hokies got things back on track. The coaches did say that they weren’t expecting Cinncy to run the ball so much. So at half adjustments were made.
• Brandon Ore. In the second half he turned into a man on a mission. It was like he willed the offensive line to open holes for him. And when they didn’t he just made the holes himself. Actually Steinspring said on the post game that the Hokies made some half time adjustments to the OL blocking to clear some things up. But still, Ore rocks.
• Macho Harris is growing into his name. I’m pretty sure he was burned for a deep pass early on, but his first interception was a thing of beauty. He was 15 yards down field before the intended receiver knew what was going on.
• Ra-ra Special Teams. When I get a new bike I’m going to paint my old one maroon and stencil on there “Pride and Joy.” It is going to be awesome.
• This game was more stressful than it needed to be, but overall it was something the team needed. Now we have a successful come from behind, late in the game, victory. We needed this going into the GT game.
• I am pleased with where we are as a team considering all of the injuries and youngness we’ve got. It is going to be a fun season.

Any other thoughts?

Technorati Tags: sports, Virginia, Virginia Tech

Some thoughts on today’s smothering victory over the Blue Devils.

• Sean Glennon! He had great numbers today: 15-25, 301, INT, 2TD. Not only did he have a good game statistically he had a good game mentally. After shaking off some dust Glennon rocked it pretty hard in the second half. Today I saw him check down to secondary receivers *and* save a busted play on a scramble. Things are looking good for Glennon.
• Royal did an excellent job of returning punts. For maybe the first time ever I didn’t feel like he ran around in circles to gain 5 yards. He broke one for a TD and ran several straight up the middle for 7ish yards. He had an average of 23 yards per return.
• The special teams were a wash. 2 blocked extra points is not something I want to see. But the coverage on Royal’s TD return was sweet.
• The defense is still amazingly awesome. We’ve allowed 10 points in 3 games. Granted the competition hasn’t been first class, but hey a goose egg is a goose egg.
• Aaron Rouse, who is awesome, had two 15 yard personal foul roughing the passer penalties. The second one knocked Duke’s starting QB out of the game with a concussion. The slow-mo replay was a lot worse than the fast-mo. But if I just had the slow-mo to go by I might have ejected him from the game. Rouse did show some class post game by apologizing to the QB and saying “I take full responsibility for my actions,” he said. “I hope he’s all right.”
• Aside from that the defense dominated. 8 sacks. 2 by my boy Brandon Flowers. I love that kid
• As you may have heard George Bell is mostly likely done with Virginia Tech football. His bad knee just won’t get better. That leaves Elan Lewis or Kenny Lewis Jr. to fill the back up role for Branden Ore (who is awesome).
• Elan Lewis is a fatty — 238! He had a bad game today: 6 carries for 2 yards. That a good YPC does not make. Seriously though, he needs to lose some weight.
• An aside — Gerg Boone could stand to lose some weight too. He looks huge as a tight end at 281.
• But back to the back up tailback spot. I think Kenny Lewis Jr. is our man. His numbers weren’t *that* great (6-16) but he showed some shiftiness and some athleticism. Particularly on his touchdown run.
• Our receivers are great. Morgan had a great game. Seven different players caught passes. Not including our FB Carlton Weatherford who I think will score some TD’s this year.

Another ‘W’ in the books. Next week Cincy (yay).

Technorati Tags: sports, Virginia Tech

We learned a lot in college football this week. We learned Ohio State, and Notre Dame could be the real thing. We also remembered that Florida State still sucks. Here are some take-aways from VT’s game against UNC.

• Sean Glennon’s first road game start could have gone better. It seemed like all of Glennon’s passes were short, low, or uncatchable. His numbers were ok (10-17-66) nothing to get excited over though, but he just never seemed to get into a groove.

  Glennon did lose two fumbles: a fumbled snap and a fumble on a sack. Unacceptable.

• Brandon Frye didn’t start this week (did he even play?) at left tackle, Nick Marshman filled in for him. This was Marshman’s first ever start and it showed. The only sack allowed was on Marashman and it was also the play where Glennon fumbled the ball. As the season progresses it will be super important to protect our young QB’s blind side. Or get ready for a billion sacks. Oh also Marshman had a false start penalty in a short yardage situation.
• The defense showed up to preserve our undefeated ACC road record. I mean seriously. DEFENSE.
• Brandon Flowers and DJ Parker are both pretty awesome. It seemed like DJ Parker was everywhere this game. I can’t remember if Flowers is filling in for the injured Roland Minor or if he starts opposite of him, but he is the real deal. Check out this hit.
• Kick blocking is our scene. We are unstoppable.
• It seemed like a lot of our players fell down this game. I dunno what that was all about. Maybe we need new shoes.
• The offensive play calling was bluh. I don’t know why we didn’t just run, run, run forever and ever amen. Where’s Ricky Bustle when you need him? Also if we go the whole season throwing screen passes every single down I may just die.

Overall I think we are still looking good at this point in the season. The OL still needs to get better — which they will. They improved since last game, and will only get better as the season goes on. Glennon needs to step it up and/or relax. We probably will see the same sort of play calling from the offensive staff until September 30th when Georgia Tech comes to Blacksburg. If we still are throwing screens every down I will cry.

Technorati Tags: sports, Virginia, Virginia Tech

I put some more pics on my fickr if you are interested.

Thoughts

• Our parking spot was awesome — Lot 2!!! I will probably never tailgate in Lot 2 again so huzzah!
• Sitting in the West Stands is a totally different experience than sitting in the East Stands. Not bad, just different.
• Northeastern — obviously — wasn’t much of an opponent which, I think, lead to some sloppy play on our part. It is difficult not to play down to the level of your competition sometimes.
• Out of all the question marks on our team, I feel the best about Glennon. He made one stupid mistake and it wasn’t even that stupid. He was intercepted on a ball he was trying to throw away — it just didn’t quite make it out of bounds.

  He can definitely throw the ball too. The 54 yard TD to Josh Morgan was awesome. Morgan did have to adjust to the ball a bit (it was just the tiniest bit underthrown), but it was good to see a deep ball again. We don’t get much of those at Tech. Plus Glennon’s stats for the day were great; he can throw the ball deep and is accurate on shorter passes. I think he is playing at a good level when combined with the quality of our receivers. It makes us dangerous through the air.

• While Glennon looked solid the O-line looked shaky. If you want to worry about something worry about the O-line. Against a 1AA team we should have had 698 rushing yards, but at times they struggled to get penetration. Glennon was hurried a couple times and sacked once, not good signs. Then Brandon Frey got injured and is out for 2-4 weeks (sprained elbow). Not good.
• The defense looked solid as always. We did allow some passes over the middle to tight ends I think — which we always seem to allow. But I’m not worried about them, they will be awesome because Bud Foster is awesome.
• Our fullbacks caught 4 passes. Carlton Weatherford had 3 with a TD. This year the fullback is the new tight end at VT.
• We went with a really limited playbook, but you know, first game and all. We all learned Glennon can throw a screen just fine. I don’t think we saw any designed Glennon scrambles, but he did have to scramble once. It wasn’t Vick-esque but it was serviceable.
• The Special teams are back. With thirty seconds left in the game and Northeastern attempting a field goal the kick block team got it together and preserved the shut out. We blocked a kick and a punt in this game, and were close on at least one more.

  I still don’t like Eddie Royal returning punts. He always runs east/west 150 yards to pick up 4 yards. But he is fast I guess. I dunno.

I think that is it, I’ll let others chime in if I’ve forgotten anything.

GO HOKIES!!!

Technorati Tags: sports, Virginia Tech